Tag Archive | percy sutton 5K race review

So, I did a 5K!! I have been trying to get to one but seems like it’s always easier to do ANY other distance than a 5K! I always end up signed up for a half, a 4 miler a 5 miler, anything but a 5K! I had one 10 days ago and got cancelled for lightning… it is apparently just not in the cards. So then August rolled around, the NYRR Percy Sutton 5K was still open, this was my easy week on my training schedule, so why not race it rigth? Easy week equaling a 5K race sounds totally legit, no?

I had never done this race before. I always wanted to but never got it. It was usually on a Summer Streets weekend, and YOU KNOW WELL I AM NOT MISSING ANY SUMMER STREETS. I probably wouldn’t care if Daniel Craig was hosting a race and he told me he’d let ME win. I’d still be in Summer Streets. Maybe. Ok maybe call Daniel Craig and we’ll see.

Anyway, before I tell about the race, let me do and out and back into a women’s thing. If you’re a man and don’t care, just ignore the purple text maybe? Friday, after an insanely stressful week, I had an IUD put in. I thought it’d be like a typical gyn appointment, like a pap smear or something, no big deal. It wasn’t. It was the most painful thing I can’t describe. They started telling me, when I got there, I could stay in the room until I felt ok, and stuff like that, and I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was. OMG… I had really no idea what I was in for. During the thing, I was shaking violently and was this close to kicking my gyn in the face and run away and be ok with the risk of being pregnant. It was just SO painful. Then, I just could move for about 30 minutes, unless sweating and crying is moving, when I made the decision to get up. Got dressed, walked out and asked for ANY painkiller (that wasn’t ibuprofen); they couldn’t do it, doctor had to prescribe it…???!! I sat in the waiting room, until I mustered the courage to get up and go home. Poor Juan was rushing from a meeting to help but it’d be faster to just get home and lay down. Pain didn’t stop until 7 pm. I couldn’t even nap through it. The worst. I just wish I had known it’d be SO horrible. And I would have brought him to help me. UGH.

Saturday morning, I felt fine. Still mentally traumatized, not kidding, I can’t get out what happened out of my head, but good to go. Met Kettia at 7:20 at the reservoir and we run the 3.5 miles to the start slowly, feeling out how my body was recovering.

Got there quick enough, when there’s good chatting (and when isn’t there?), miles fly fast! We saw everyone, and soon enought we had to line up in the corrals!

I saw Tom so I, of course, started waving like a maniac. Thanks for the shot Tom!

My last 5K was… years ago! I knew my PR was 21:09 (from 2012? 2011?) and I wanted to PR. that was a 6:49 pace average, so I thought I’d open up with a 7:10 or 7:15 first mile and ramp up from there. I had no clue how being in pain the whole day before would affect me but everyone was a bit shocked that I was there and not laying down in a bed crying somewhere. So I was ahead of the curve a bit I guess. But I did feel ok so I wasn’t really thinking about that. I had read the first 1.5 miles were hilly so decided to break the race in two part: Easy Start, Fast Finish.

They weren’t kidding about them hills. wow. The first one hit me like a ton of bricks, then you turn, and there’s MORE! A few seconds into the race I noticed a bit of a pothole, 3 minutes later someone hits the floor running right in front of me. I decided I’d focus on the FLOOR. Keep it simple: don’t fall. The last hill, around 1.5 was insane!!! Oh and then I see a fire truck ahead cutting through the course and people stopping and waving around it. Interesting.

Another of Tom’s masterpieces!

When I saw that last hill, at around 1.5 I was happy to know it was the last one. Glad I search that!!! And then I started hammering. It got a bit crowded and I wish I had someone to chase, but I don’t like chasing men… I couldn’t believe the race would be over so fast and to tell the truth, as hard as you can race a 5K, and as painful as it can be, I had the pain from the day before fresh everwhere so this didn’t feel as bad. I tried doing math but as usual, I knew it’d come down to seconds. I tried my best. Crossed the finish line and dry heaved for about 3 minutes. I tried. I had a 21:18.

A full 9 seconds too slow to PR, but… when I saw my splits I literally started dancing. Aren’t these negative splits a thing of beauty??

I was so happy with my effort. I think I nailed this race and sometimes that is better than the finish time. Not that anyone gives a crap what I do!

Stats Time!

Finish time: 21:18 Average Pace: 6:52

Previous PR: 21:09. From: August, 2012

Age Grading: 71.66%

Overall Place: 549 of 4,803

Gender Place: 92 of 2,400

Age Place: 10 of 242

this is what the hills looked like… fun, right?

I was happy. Knowing I can control myself in a 5K is huge! I did see everyone passing me as usual in the first few blocks, only to go backwards a few minutes into it. And feeling strong in the last mile?? PRICELESS. All this cross-training is working. I really do feel it. Glad I have amazing friends to race with, cross train with, run with and never feel like this is “something I have to do for my health”. Instead, I am just hanging out, outdoors, having all the fun. Fills me up!